The Legend of Weed
by Jazz WindField
Summary: AU Lee Hyuna is the player behind the legendary Weed from the Continent of Magick. In that world, she used her male avatar to achieve feats that were marveled by players all over Korea. Now, in Royal Road, she paves her way through poverty and carves her name onto the history of a whole new world... as a female. Fem!LeeHyun


Prologue: The Female Legend

* * *

Lee Hyuna wished that she was not born a female.

After her parents passed away in an accident, Hyuna started taking up odd jobs in order to support her grandmother and younger sister.

To be honest, things would be a lot easier if she had been born a male. A male's body is a lot more resilient. Many employers took one look at her gender and immediately turned her away, despite the fact that she was willing to try harder than most of the workers there.

"_She's just a girl. What if she falls sick and dies?"_

Such whispers follow her everywhere. Most illegal employers prefer to hire boys simply because they can take harder jobs. Girls on the other hand are seen to be fragile and delicate.

In the end, in order to keep her family fed and her grandmother from worrying, Hyuna took to binding her chest and lying about her gender. _'Lee Hyun'_ was the name she used.

It was not really difficult to pull the wool over their eyes as they hardly cared about the kids they hired, just as long as none of them died while working for them. Lee Hyuna was not exceptionally pretty – unlike her younger sister Hayan – neither did she look feminine, and this only made things easier.

Hyuna sat in front of her computer, one that she reassembled from parts scavenged from other computers that were thrown out by their neighbors. The words _'Continent of Magic'_ flashed on the screen. The character that she spent so much time training, cultivating, stood in front of her.

He was the only selfish thing that she allowed herself to do. Weed was a character she wished to be. _A male._ And as long as she put the time and effort into training her character, it grows, and in return, she was able to kill higher leveled monsters and kill harder dungeons. What was so hard about that?

As long as you are willing to work hard, the game would reward you with better equipment and stats points. Unlike the game, the real world does not work that way. No matter how hard she worked or how many jobs she took… There never seem to be enough money to pay for everything.

With her grandmother being admitted to hospital recently, money was even tighter. And even with the three jobs that she's juggling now, it is no longer sufficient.

Her cursor hovered over the delete button. One click and all the work she put into this character would be gone.

Hyuna hesitated.

'_I think I remember something about people selling their characters online… Any money would be better than nothing.' _

Opening a browser, she started searching on how to selling a game character.

It did not take long for her to find a trading site and to create an account on it. With a few clicks on her mouse, she quickly took a couple of screenshots of her character and equipment and uploaded it.

To begin with, she set a beginning bid of 50,000 won and the auction is set to end in 24 hours.

'_Hopefully this price isn't too outrageous and someone would bid.' _

Turning away from the table, Hyuna put on a coat and decided that it was time to go get her identity card and then drop by the hospital to pay a visit to her grandmother.

* * *

Rapping on the door thrice, Hyuna poked her head into the room. "Grandma?"

"Hyuna! Come in my child," the old lady lying on the bed patted on the side of the bed with an empty chair. "Where have you been? I would have thought that you would have dropped by before lunch."

"Sister is probably busy playing that game of hers that she likes so much grandma," Hayan commented faux-sneakily before tossing a teasing smirk at Hyuna.

An eyebrow lifted, "Hayan, I've just been to the agency to collect my identity card. So grandma, don't listen to her," Hyuna replied as she made her way to the seat beside the bed.

"Don't worry, now that I have my card, I'll be sure to get better jobs so that none of you have to worry about food anymore." She smiled happily to her family.

"Sister, you know I can always—" Hayan was cut off before she could complete what she wanted to say.

Frowning at her younger sister, Hyuna leaned across the bed and started, "Hayan. All you need to worry about now is your grades and whether you are able to get into a good university. Leave everything else to me and focus on your studies."

Hayan just shot a look at her grandmother, who instantly knew what her youngest granddaughter wanted her to say. "Lee Hyuna!" Softening her tone, a wrinkled hand reached out to cup her granddaughter's face. "Don't overwork your body Hyuna. Remember that although money is important, your health is even more important to us, your family."

"I won't," Hyuna promised.

Pushing back her chair, she reached out to ruffle her sister's hair. "I'll go to the employment agency to look for a better paying job," pausing for just a moment to look at her sister in the eye, she continued, "Look after grandma for me Hayan."

With a grin and a wave, she quickly stepped out of the room and left the hospital, her mind bubbling with the different jobs and the pay for each of them. She mentally planned out the rest of the day, and eventually decided to drop by the employment agency for the available jobs before cooking dinner for Hayan and sleeping early.

She would have a long day ahead of her tomorrow.

'_I'm sorry for lying, grandma.'_

* * *

Hyuna would never have expected that while she was away, news that the well-known – or infamous – character 'Weed' from the game 'Continent of Magic' was being auctioned went viral even while she tossed and turned in bed, dreaming about the jobs she applied for and the money she desperately needed for her grandmother's hospital fees.

The next morning, Hyuna was abruptly woken from her sleep by the insistent ringing sound coming from the house phone.

"…Hello?"

"Hello, I'm Yoon Nahee from CTS Media Incorporated. May I speak to the owner of 'Weed'?" A light tilting voice came ringing from the other end of the phone call.

'…_CTS Media Incorporated? Did something happen to my character?'_ Hyuna's eyes widened as her mind raced to form all sorts of conclusions. "…yes. I'm the owner behind the character 'Weed'. Is anything the matter?"

"…" The speaker on the other end fell silent for a moment, before quickly resuming the conversation; her professional tone hid the shock she felt over the sudden realization.

'_Weed is a girl?' _

"Ah, right. We have deposited the amount for the final bid into your account this morning. Please confirm the transaction on the item trading site and do not hesitate to contact us if there is any issue."

"…I understand, thank you." Hyuna replied automatically. For a moment, she actually forgot to ask about the price of the bid. The moment a 'click' was heard over the phone; she quickly placed it back onto the cradle and ran for the computer.

The glow of the screen illuminated her face as she navigated the item trading site. Her mouse cursor hovered over the table where the final bid was clearly shown, Hyuna could not help but freeze, before she snatched the phone and dialed the number to the local bank her family patronizes.

'_3,090,000,000 won. '_

It was all Hyuna could do to keep herself conscious. _'Am I dreaming?' _

Despite the fact that the news caught her by surprise, it did not take long before her mind started calculating the amount she needed to set aside for her sister's education, her grandmother's hospital fees and the monthly household expenses.

'At this rate, we will be able to afford a house of our own, and not have to worry about our landlord chasing us out anymore,' Hyuna thought grimly.

Ten minutes later, she was prepared and made her way to the bank to make the necessary payments.

* * *

A/N: I was bored. And I had this floating around in my hard disk for months. I figured it was time I finally threw this out. Hopefully I'll be able to get more inspiration to continue this.


End file.
